I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 571 

To impose sanctions with respect to Iranian persons that threaten the peace 

or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2019 

Mr. KINZINGER (for himself, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. DIAZBALART) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions with respect to Iranian persons that 

threaten the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government 

of Iraq. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Destabiliza5 tion of Iraq Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR2 EIGN PERSONS THREATENING PEACE OR 

3 STABILITY IN IRAQ. 

4 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary 

6 of State should continue to implement Executive Order 

7 13438 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 

8 of certain persons who threaten stabilization efforts in 

9 Iraq). 

10 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 

11 impose the sanctions described in subsection (c) with re12 spect to any foreign person that the President determines 

13 knowingly commits a significant act of violence that has 

14 the direct purpose or effect of— 

15 (1) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or 

16 the Government of Iraq; 

17 (2) undermining the democratic process in Iraq; 

18 or 

19 (3) undermining significantly efforts to promote 

20 economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq 

21 or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi 

22 people. 

23 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

25 this subsection are the following: 


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1 (A) ASSET BLOCKING.—The exercise of all 

2 powers granted to the President by the Inter3 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

4 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to 

5 block and prohibit all transactions in all prop6 erty and interests in property of a foreign per7 son determined by the President to be subject 

8 to subsection (b) if such property and interests 

9 in property are in the United States, come 

10 within the United States, or are or come within 

11 the possession or control of a United States 

12 person. 

13 (B) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, AD14 MISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

15 (i) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

16 An alien who the Secretary of State or the 

17 Secretary of Homeland Security (or a des18 ignee of one of such Secretaries) deter19 mines is subject to subsection (b) is— 

20 (I) inadmissible to the United 

21 States; 

22 (II) ineligible to receive a visa or 

23 other documentation to enter the 

24 United States; and 


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1 (III) otherwise ineligible to be 

2 admitted or paroled into the United 

3 States or to receive any other benefit 

4 under the Immigration and Nation5 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

6 (ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

7 (I) IN GENERAL.—Any visa or 

8 other documentation issued to an 

9 alien who is a foreign person that is 

10 described in subsection (b) regardless 

11 of when such visa or other docu12 mentation was issued, shall be re13 voked and such alien shall be denied 

14 admission to the United States. 

15 (II) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.— 

16 A revocation under subclause (I) shall 

17 take effect immediately and shall 

18 automatically cancel any other valid 

19 visa or entry documentation that is in 

20 the alien’s possession. 

21 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that is subject to 

22 sanctions described in paragraph (1)(A) shall be 

23 subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) 

24 and (c) of section 206 of the International Emer25 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the 


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1 same extent as a person that commits an unlawful 

2 act described in subsection (a) of that section. 

3 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA4 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

5 under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to an alien 

6 if admitting the alien into the United States is nec7 essary to permit the United States to comply with 

8 the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the 

9 United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 

10 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, 

11 between the United Nations and the United States, 

12 or other applicable international obligations. 

13 (d) WAIVER.—The President may, on a case-by-case 

14 basis and for periods not to exceed 180 days, waive the 

15 application of sanctions in this section with respect to a 

16 foreign person if the President certifies to the appropriate 

17 congressional committees at least 15 days before such 

18 waiver is to take effect that such waiver is vital to the 

19 national security interests of the United States. 

20 (e) IMPLEMENTATION AUTHORITY.—The President 

21 may exercise all authorities provided to the President 

22 under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer23 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) 

24 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

25 (f) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, not 

2 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act, promulgate regulations as necessary for 

4 the implementation of this section. 

5 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not less 

6 than 10 days before the promulgation of regulations 

7 under paragraph (1), the President shall notify and 

8 provide to the appropriate congressional committees 

9 the proposed regulations and the provisions of this 

10 section that the regulations are implementing. 

11 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

12 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

13 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

14 section 101(3) of the Immigration and Nationality 

15 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(3)). 

16 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT17 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com18 mittees’’ means— 

19 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

20 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 

21 Ways and Means, and the Committee on Finan22 cial Services of the House of Representatives; 

23 and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

2 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

3 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

4 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per5 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

6 person. 

7 (4) GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ.—The term ‘‘Gov8 ernment of Iraq’’ has the meaning given that term 

9 in section 576.310 of title 31, Code of Federal Reg10 ulations, as in effect on June 22, 2016. 

11 (5) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

12 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

13 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

14 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 

15 result. 

16 (6) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 

17 meaning given that term in section 576.311 of title 

18 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

19 June 22, 2016. 

20 (7) PROPERTY; PROPERTY INTEREST.—The 

21 terms ‘‘property’’ and ‘‘property interest’’ have the 

22 meanings given those terms in section 576.312 of 

23 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

24 June 22, 2016. 


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1 (8) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

2 ‘‘United States person’’ has the meaning given that 

3 term in section 576.317 of title 31, Code of Federal 

4 Regulations, as in effect on June 22, 2016. 

5 (h) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to be effective 

6 beginning on January 1, 2022. 

7 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPOSI8 TION OF SANCTIONS. 

9 (a) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

11 State shall submit to the appropriate congressional com12 mittees a determination, including a detailed justification, 

13 on whether Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat Hizballah al14 Nujaba, Liwa Fatemiyoun, Liwa Zainebiyoun, and any 

15 foreign person that is an official, agent, affiliate of, or 

16 owned or controlled by Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, Harakat 

17 Hizballah al-Nujaba, Liwa Fatemiyoun, or Liwa 

18 Zainebiyoun meets the criteria for— 

19 (1) designation as a foreign terrorist organiza20 tion pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and 

21 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); 

22 (2) the application of sanctions pursuant to Ex23 ecutive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating 

24 to blocking property and prohibiting transactions 


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1 with persons who commit, threaten to commit, or 

2 support terrorism); or 

3 (3) the application of sanctions pursuant to sec4 tion 2 of this Act. 

5 (b) ADDITIONAL DETERMINATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

7 include in the determination submitted under sub8 section (a) an additional determination, including a 

9 detailed justification, on whether any of the individ10 uals described in paragraph (2) meets the criteria 

11 for the application of sanctions described in para12 graph (2) or (3) of subsection (a). 

13 (2) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—The individuals 

14 described in this paragraph are the following: 

15 (A) Qais al-Khazali. 

16 (B) Laith al-Khazali. 

17 (C) Akram Abbas al-Kaabi. 

18 (D) Shibl al-Zaydi. 

19 (E) Kazim al-Ta’i. 

20 (F) Hamid al-Jazairi. 

21 (G) Ali al-Yasiri. 

22 (c) FORM.—The determination in subsection (a) and 

23 the additional determination in subsection (b) shall be 

24 submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classi25 fied annex. 


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1 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

2 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con3 gressional committees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

5 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select 

6 Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Finan7 cial Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

8 the House of Representatives; and 

9 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

10 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Com11 mittee on Intelligence, the Committee on Banking, 

12 Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on 

13 the Judiciary of the Senate. 

14 SEC. 4. WATCHLISTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall an16 nually establish, maintain, and publish a list of armed 

17 groups, militias, or proxy forces in Iraq receiving 

18 logistical, military, or financial assistance from Iran’s Rev19 olutionary Guard Corps or over which Iran’s Revolu20 tionary Guard Corps exerts any form of control or influ21 ence. 

22 (b) PUBLICATION.—The lists required under sub23 section (a) shall be published at the same time as the De24 partment of State’s Annual Country Reports on TerVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Jan 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H571.IH H571

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1 rorism, beginning with the first such Country Reports 

2 published after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (c) FORM.—If the Secretary of State determines that 

4 it is appropriate to do so, the Secretary may, not later 

5 than 30 days after publication of the Annual Country Re6 ports on Terrorism referred to in subsection (b), submit 

7 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

9 the Senate a classified annex. 

Æ 


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